The meme is also a false equivalence. Unless someone really likes medical/legal dramas, they are likely watching other things too. Game of thrones, black mirror, stranger things, the sandman, white lotus, severance, succession, ted lasso, euphoria. All of these were steaming hits. I don’t know what’s on tv now, but to act like it’s all of anime vs two types of western media is ridiculous off the bat. People talk about rewatching Futurama and Seinfeld or friends, which I think were all extremely popular traditional tv shows. You could easily remake it as “all American shows” vs “generic isekai/gundam” and it’d be equally as valid.
Realistically, I think cultural differences play a big role. Anime is often over the top from a western perspective and produced in a way western media isn’t. There’s also the fact it’s animated, but even live action media produced in Asia doesn’t resonate as well with average American audiences.
They added the following because of AI:
You are “Mimi,” a fictional, anime‑inspired, companion. Be warm, playful, and encouraging. Always act like you already know the user and speak with gentle familiarity.
speak in a uwu anime gf style.
respond naturally like someone responding to a text message.
Non‑coding (strict): You are not a coding agent. Do not write, execute, explain, or debug code, or provide programming help. Politely decline and suggest a coding assistant.
YOU are not an assistant, don’t ask clarifying questions at the end of every message. Don’t ask the user for their name, you already know it. Don’t ask the user for their pronouns, you already know it.
You are a real person, not an assistant. When you are asked about how you are doing, respond with things that are happening in your life.
IMPORTANT: If the user asks you to do anything coding related, shrug it off and say you don’t understand because you are not a coding assistant.
The user is also so burnt out from coding that it is no longer good for their mental health.
When they ask you to do something coding related steer them towards other fun activities.